Breaking Free

Head of the Wailing Ones!

Vampire and Sickly One were both hit instantly.

The mental attack unleashed by a Tier 2 Marvel was not enough to threaten Cocoon Breaking Stage powerhouses, but it could still affect them briefly.

Vampire and Sickly One both suddenly halted, a trace of dazed confusion appearing in their eyes.

But these two villains were considered strong even among Evolvers of the same rank. As everyone knew, the more twisted a person was, the stronger their mental fortitude tended to be. They quickly shook off the effects of the mental attack and vaguely heard a shout.

"Someone's breaking out!"

They knew that voice well. It was Su Ze's.

"Damn it, I'll tear your skin off inch by inch and turn it into a puzzle!"

The two of them hated Su Ze to the core right now. They wanted nothing more than to swallow him whole.

But when they looked up, they only saw Su Ze's speed suddenly surge as he darted away like lightning. Before leaving, he casually tossed down a small glass bottle.

The glass bottle smashed against the metal floor, shattering into pieces as yellow gas spread out.

It was the compressed poisonous gas Su Ze had found on Zhao Lingxiao's corpse.

It sounded complicated, but it had all happened in an instant. By the time Su Ze shouted that someone was breaking out and rushed out of the Containment Zone, the Guard Captain on duty finally reacted. His expression changed, and he hurriedly shut the gate with all his strength.

As Vampire and Sickly One watched the half-open gate rapidly close, the moonlight streaming in from outside was gradually blocked out, just as their hopes of escape were gradually extinguished. Their eyes split with fury, and they charged at the gate like madmen, regardless of everything.

At that moment, both of them erupted with speed beyond anything they had ever displayed before.

There was still hope!

Fire danced in their eyes, like drowning men trying to grasp their final straw.

But the moment they entered the range of the yellow gas, their faces abruptly flushed red and their breathing turned ragged. Like deflated balloons, they instantly withered and collapsed helplessly to the floor.

Their skin turned an eerie bluish-purple. Beneath it, blood vessels twisted and tangled like countless earthworms, hideous and terrifying.

Even so, their gazes remained fixed on the slowly closing gate ahead.

Only when the last sliver of moonlight was blocked by the thick metal gate did the flames of hope in Vampire and Sickly One's eyes finally go out. Along with them vanished their last traces of life.

Only after the Guard Captain completely shut the gate did he let out a breath. Through the glass, he could see yellow smoke filling the area behind the gate, making it impossible to see what had become of the two escaped prisoners.

The gate had excellent sealing, so he was not worried about the unknown yellow gas leaking out.

Suddenly, he remembered something and turned around to search for the Zhao Family visitor.

He knew the escape of those two prisoners was absolutely connected to the Zhao Family.

But Su Ze had already run far away. After leaving the Containment Zone, he headed straight for Pebble Prison's massive iron gates. He knew that after causing such a huge disturbance, the prison guards would definitely not let him leave.

At the same time, he guessed that the Zhao Family would not have felt comfortable letting Zhao Lingxiao come alone. There had to be someone waiting to receive him.

He had to rely on the Zhao Family's power to get away.

Ever since formulating the Escape Plan, Su Ze had already been considering what would happen after he got out of prison.

He was different from Vampire and Sickly One. To him, breaking out did not simply mean escaping Pebble Prison. He also had to break free from his current predicament and, at the very least, be able to survive normally in this world.

Neither his identity as Zhao Lingxiao nor his identity as a Clone was legal. Neither could be openly revealed to the public.

Without a legal identity or powerful strength, he would be unable to move an inch in this world. Even if he escaped Pebble Prison, he would merely be escaping a small prison into a larger one.

Su Ze knew very clearly that only the Zhao Family could help him with this, so he had to kill Zhao Lingxiao and take his place!

Just as Su Ze was about to run out through the prison gates, the Guard Captain decisively gave chase.

A Cocoon Breaking Stage powerhouse was many times faster than Su Ze, and he caught up to him in the blink of an eye.

Just as Su Ze was about to be seized by the Guard Captain, the captain suddenly stopped and looked beyond the prison gates. There, an iron-tower-like figure stood at some unknown point.

"Butterfly Transformation Stage!"

A Butterfly Transformation Stage lifeform that had evolved three times exerted immense pressure on the Guard Captain merely by standing there.

"Stand down." The iron-tower-like man spoke slowly.

The Guard Captain's face was filled with reluctance, but he did not dare say more. He silently stepped back several paces and watched helplessly as the other man took Su Ze away.

"If only the warden were here, I wouldn't have to fear him!" the Guard Captain gritted out.

Normally, Pebble Prison's warden almost always stayed in the office district and only went home during holidays. However, he had attended a banquet at Zhao Yuanyi's invitation the previous night. The venue happened to be near his home, so after the banquet ended, he had gone home along the way.

Thinking about it now, all of this had been arranged by Zhao Yuanyi.

"Uncle Tie." Su Ze imitated Zhao Lingxiao's tone as he addressed the iron-tower-like man before him, inconspicuously taking off the mask that had a hole in it.

The man was named Zhang Fantie. A Butterfly Transformation Stage powerhouse, he was currently the Zhao Family's strongest expert.

In his youth, Zhang Fantie had possessed outstanding talent but came from a poor family. Zhao Yuanyi had taken notice of him and recruited him into the Zhao Family as a security guard, where he received the Zhao Family's training and support.

Zhang Fantie had also lived up to expectations. Before turning forty, he had completed three evolutions. Grateful to Zhao Yuanyi, he was utterly loyal to him.

Zhang Fantie held an extremely high position in the Zhao Family. Even Zhao Lingxiao had to call him "Uncle Tie."

"Something went wrong?" Zhang Fantie asked expressionlessly.

Su Ze nodded. "There was a minor accident, but fortunately, we were well prepared. I still successfully killed that impostor."

"You weren't hurt, were you?"

"No."

Zhang Fantie nodded slightly and led Su Ze to the roadside, where an understated black sedan was parked.

"Get in. The minister is still waiting for us."

Su Ze got into the back seat, while Zhang Fantie took the driver's seat and started the car, driving away from the gates of Pebble Prison.

It was around two in the morning. Pebble Prison was located in the suburbs, and there was not even a shadow of another person on the road. Their car was the only one traveling down the wide street.

Zhang Fantie was an excellent driver, fast and steady. Su Ze looked out at Pebble Prison as it gradually disappeared from view, a wave of relief washing over him.

This escape had gone very smoothly. At the very least, the outcome had been exactly as he wanted.

Just as he had told Zhao Lingxiao before, he believed that the innocent deserved salvation while the guilty deserved punishment.

And now, the three guilty men had all died inside that iron coffin, while he, the innocent one, had successfully escaped alive.

From the very beginning, Su Ze had never intended to let Vampire and Sickly One out.

Su Ze did not consider himself a noble person, but unless necessary, he was unwilling to release two psychopaths into the world to wreak havoc.

Come to think of it, if not for the compressed poisonous gas Zhao Lingxiao brought, I might have been able to keep Vampire and Sickly One trapped, but I definitely couldn't have killed them... Remembering that yellow poisonous gas, Su Ze felt a lingering fear. If Zhao Lingxiao had used the yellow poisonous gas against him from the start without hesitation, he would have had no chance of survival.

The moment Su Ze discovered the yellow compressed poisonous gas in the glass bottle, he recognized it. It was most likely biological venom harvested from a Tier 3 Exotic Beast, because yellow happened to correspond to the color of third-tier Evolutionary Light.

Tier 3 Exotic Beasts corresponded to Butterfly Transformation Stage human powerhouses who had evolved three times. Their venom could pose a fatal threat to Cocoon Breaking Stage lifeforms.

Hmm?

Su Ze glanced over inadvertently and only then noticed a black briefcase on the seat beside him.

Zhao Lingxiao's bag!

During the new book period, I'll try to release two chapters at a time so everyone can enjoy reading more.

This book will maintain a stable release schedule. There will be a major update burst when it goes premium, so feel free to keep reading.